Key Benefits:
61. Federal law establishing a federal law on liability for the future of BAWAG P.S.K. Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse AG, the Federal Finance Act 2006 and the National Bank Act 1984 as well as a federal law on the acquisition of shares of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank
The National Council has decided:
Article 1
Federal Law concerning the Liability for the Future of BAWAG P.S.K. Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse AG (BAWAG P.S.K.-Save Law)
§ 1. (1) The Federal Minister of Finance is authorized to accept liability as a guarantor (§ § 1346, 1357 General Civil Code, ABGB) for BAWAG P.S.K. Bank for Labour and Economy and Austria until 1 July 2007 the Federal Minister for Finance is authorized to Postsparkasse AG, if:
| 1. |
the total amount (equivalent) of the liability does not exceed EUR 900 million, |
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| 2. |
the liability for positions of the credit institution which are to be included in the tax base according to Article 22 (2) of the BWG and which are to be included by the bank examiner in accordance with the Regulation of the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FMA) on the annex to the audit report, BGBl. II No 305/2005, Annex IV, Z 14 lit. (c) and (d); if no annual accounts are available, the current assessment of the bank auditor shall be relevant; |
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| 3. |
all direct and indirect owners of the credit institution unconditionally the liability of the guarantor and the payer (§ 1357 ABGB), except, however, conditions for the defence of the insolvency of the direct and indirect owners of the credit institution, and without any further Have taken over; branch offices of an owner are to be attributed to the owner; |
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| 4. |
all direct and indirect owners of the credit institution declare their readiness to disclose their assets status to the Oesterreichische Nationalbank until 31 May 2006; the Oesterreichische Nationalbank is authorized to do so, including check on site. |
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(2) The liability in accordance with paragraph 1 may only be assumed to the extent that:
| 1. |
the own funds of the credit institution or the group of credit institutions required pursuant to § 22 BWG (Section 30 of the Banking Act, BGBl. No 532/1993, BWG), without liability for short-term operations, or |
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| 2. |
the equity is not sufficient to deal with company losses or to carry out the necessary restructuring measures to improve the economic situation; and |
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| 3. |
there is a particular general economic interest in dealing with the problems mentioned in Z 1 or 2. |
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(3) Exclusions are excluded from liability
| 1. |
Claims of a local or foreign general debtor against the credit institution requesting liability; |
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| 2. |
Claims arising from the title damages, counsel liability or prospectus liability against the credit institution requesting the liability. |
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§ 2. (1) The liability declaration must be made in writing and in any case the following contents must be provided and conditions are to be included:
| 1. |
the reasons which are relevant for the assumption of liability pursuant to Section 1 (2), |
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| 2. |
the amount of liability to be determined in accordance with the financial requirements of the credit institution and the credit institution group; |
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| 3. |
the use of liability, which may only be carried out if the satisfaction of the liability pursuant to § 1 (1) (1) (3) has been requested without success, |
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| 4. |
the earliest date of use of the liability and the repayment plan, |
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| 5. |
the continued existence of liability in the event of reformation or division, |
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| 6. |
the use of the disposal proceeds in the case of the sale of shares in the credit institution; |
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| 7. |
Information, disclosure and reporting obligations of the credit institution benefiting from the liability assumption vis-à-vis the Federal Minister of Finance. |
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(2) The liability declaration shall include the following:
| 1. |
interest is included in the liability in accordance with Section 1 (2) of this Regulation, |
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| 2. |
an improvement obligation is provided for. |
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§ 3. (1) The previous shareholders of the credit institution have to commit themselves to the Federal Minister of Finance to transfer all shareholding rights to third parties. The acquiring third party may not be in a dominant or controlled relationship with the seller of the shareholders ' rights.
(2) After the sale of the shares in the credit institution, the Federal Minister of Finance may no longer assume liability in accordance with this Federal Act. In accordance with this Federal Act, any liability shall be extinguaged 60 days after the transfer of ownership, but no later than 1 July 2007. The Federal Minister of Finance is authorized, with the consent of the Federal Government, to prolongate a liability assumed in accordance with § 1 (1) (1), if the conditions of § 1 (2) are fulfilled.
§ 4. (1) For liability claims in accordance with § 1, the credit institution receiving the liability shall be paid a charge of 0.2 vH annually, calculated on the amount of the outstanding amount of capital and the interest and costs, to the federal government.
(2) If the sale of the shares pursuant to section 3 (1) is not effected until 1 July 2007,
| 1. |
the liability shall be increased by 1 vH as from 1 July 2007; and |
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| 2. |
For the period of upright liability, the Federal Minister of Finance shall be liable to appoint a trustee who shall be responsible for the profession of lawyers or accountants. |
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(3) The liability trustee may prohibit all transactions of the credit institution which are likely to increase the probability of claiming the Federal Minister of Finance from the liability according to § 1. This includes, in particular, those operations and measures which may reduce the assets of the credit institution (dilution protection).
(4) The liability trustee shall have the right to:
| 1. |
the credit institution, the credit institution's group and all its subsidiaries require the submission of interim financial statements, their specific form and structure, and of audit reports, |
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| 2. |
call for information on all business matters by undertakings and their institutions, pursuant to Z 1, to inspect the books, documents and data carriers; |
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| 3. |
by the bank auditors of credit institutions and groups of credit institutions, by the relevant audit and audit associations, by the security institutions (Section 93 of the Federal Elections Act) and by a government commissioner appointed pursuant to Section 70 (2) (2) of the Federal Elections Act (BWG) all necessary Obtain information; |
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| 4. |
by the bank auditors of credit institutions and credit institution groups, other auditors and accounting firms, the competent audit and audit associations and by other experts, all the necessary tests , |
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(5) The cost of measures taken by the liability trustee pursuant to paragraph 4 shall be borne by the credit institution.
§ 5. The credit institution referred to in § 1 as well as those natural and legal persons who directly take measures to deal with the problems referred to in Article 1 (2) (2) (2) (1) or (2) shall be subject to the stamp and legal fees in respect of these measures. National administrative charges, court and judicial fees as well as capital movements tax.
§ 6. With the enforcement of this federal law, the Federal Minister of Finance is entrusted with the approval of the Federal Government in respect of the last sentence of Section 3 (2) of the Federal Minister of Finance.
Article 2
Amendment of the Federal Finance Act 2006 (6. BFG-Novelle 2006)
The Federal Finance Act 2006, BGBl. I No 20/2005, as last amended by BGBl. I No 40/2006, is hereby amended as follows:
(1) In Article VI, the point after Z 42 shall be replaced by a line point and the following new Z 43 shall be added:
| " 43. |
in the case of the preliminary draft extension 1/54093 up to an amount of EUR 33 million for the acquisition of shares of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank pursuant to the Federal Act concerning the acquisition of shares of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, if the cover is can be ensured by means of expenditure savings and/or additional revenue. " |
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(2) In Article VII, the point after Z 13 is replaced by a line point and the following new Z 14 is added:
| " 14. |
in the case of the preliminary approach 1/54719 up to an amount of EUR 900 million for payments in connection with the Federal Act concerning the assumption of liability for the safeguarding of the future of BAWAG P.S.K. Bank for Labour and Economy and Austrian Postsparkasse AG. " |
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Article 3
Amendment of the National Bank Act 1984
The National Bank Act, BGBl. No. 50/1984, as last amended by the Federal Law BGBl. N ° 161/2004, shall be amended as follows:
Section 9 (2) is deleted; § 9 (1) is given the title § 9.
Article 4
Federal Law on the Acquisition of Shares of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank
§ 1. The Federal Minister of Finance is authorized to acquire shares of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank from BAWAG P.S.K. Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft und Österreichische Postsparkasse AG and the Österreichische Confederation of Trade Unions.
§ 2. The Federal Minister of Finance is responsible for the enforcement of this federal law.
Fischer
Bowl
